Crows with Adult Redfoot

[WasagaRedfoot]

Hello!

My 10 year old Redfoot is about 12 inches long and 6lbs. He spends his summer in our backyard that has been tortoise proofed. We keep the edges of the yard quite wild so he has lots of places to hide, he often isn't out in the open unless he's crossing to the other side of wants to sun bathe. At night we put him in a predator proof hide, then let him back out in the morning.

My neighbor has started feeding crows. This has caused them to occasionally mill around in the yard. I do not believe they have noticed my tortoise, but I am a little worried. I know crows and Ravens will hunt young tortoises, but should I be worried about my tortoise, should they discover he exists? I know they can't get through his shell and he has pretty armored front legs to protect his face, but I worry about them severely hurting him.

I knew when we started having him stay outside that predation was a risk but this is a hard one to mitigate. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced something like this? The crows completely ignore the squirrels that pass through the yard, and they are smaller than my tortoise but much quicker.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's too bad about your neighbor feeding the crows and attracting them to your yard. I know chickens peck at something shiny, and may peck a tortoise's eyes, but I don't know much about crows, except that they're awfully smart. Maybe put up some sort of whirly scarecrow type things. Let's see if @Tom has any words of wisdom.

 

[dd33]

The crow population where I work preys on turtle eggs very heavily. They look for nesting water turtles and eat the eggs as they are being laid. One year I stopped to scare off the crows and found that they had actually pecked a hole into the back side of the turtle and were removing the eggs from inside.
I don't know if crows would go after your redfoot but if they did, they are more than capable of killing it. Could you put bird netting up over his outdoor enclosure?

 

[Tom]

Hello!

My 10 year old Redfoot is about 12 inches long and 6lbs. He spends his summer in our backyard that has been tortoise proofed. We keep the edges of the yard quite wild so he has lots of places to hide, he often isn't out in the open unless he's crossing to the other side of wants to sun bathe. At night we put him in a predator proof hide, then let him back out in the morning.

My neighbor has started feeding crows. This has caused them to occasionally mill around in the yard. I do not believe they have noticed my tortoise, but I am a little worried. I know crows and Ravens will hunt young tortoises, but should I be worried about my tortoise, should they discover he exists? I know they can't get through his shell and he has pretty armored front legs to protect his face, but I worry about them severely hurting him.

I knew when we started having him stay outside that predation was a risk but this is a hard one to mitigate. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced something like this? The crows completely ignore the squirrels that pass through the yard, and they are smaller than my tortoise but much quicker.

Under normal circumstances, this would never be a problem, but with your neighbor baiting them in... I can see how it "could" become a problem. I know how I'd solve this problem, but that's not for everyone.

Here is a thought: Could you ask your neighbor to stop?

How about motion activated sprinklers to blast them if they come into your yard?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Crow food probably equals Rat food.
That's what I found out when my wife set up two bird feeders in the back yard.
Rats are a problem. Crows I'm not sure about.
I wonder if you can do an anonymous complaint? It seems as though feeding crows might actually be illegal

 

[WasagaRedfoot]

The crow population where I work preys on turtle eggs very heavily. They look for nesting water turtles and eat the eggs as they are being laid. One year I stopped to scare off the crows and found that they had actually pecked a hole into the back side of the turtle and were removing the eggs from inside.
I don't know if crows would go after your redfoot but if they did, they are more than capable of killing it. Could you put bird netting up over his outdoor enclosure?

His outdoor enclosure is unfortunately our entire backyard, which is 75 x 80 feet.

 

[WasagaRedfoot]

Crow food probably equals Rat food.
That's what I found out when my wife set up two bird feeders in the back yard.
Rats are a problem. Crows I'm not sure about.
I wonder if you can do an anonymous complaint? It seems as though feeding crows might actually be illegal

I have debated this but I think crows fall under feeding birds, which is allowed here.

 

[WasagaRedfoot]

Under normal circumstances, this would never be a problem, but with your neighbor baiting them in... I can see how it "could" become a problem. I know how I'd solve this problem, but that's not for everyone.

Here is a thought: Could you ask your neighbor to stop?

How about motion activated sprinklers to blast them if they come into your yard?

I have debated asking them but they are a little... Unfriendly neighbor wise, and I'm almost not comfortable disclosing to them that I have a tortoise here. But I think the sprinkler may be a good idea.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I have debated asking them but they are a little... Unfriendly neighbor wise, and I'm almost not comfortable disclosing to them that I have a tortoise here. But I think the sprinkler may be a good idea.

Redfoot love the rain. And sprinklers. So it's a win-win!

 

[WasagaRedfoot]

Redfoot love the rain. And sprinklers. So it's a win-win!

So true. We had insane heavy rains last week and he sat in the middle of his yard with his face up, I thought he was going to drown in rain drops haha